The Disciplines: Prayer I. Introduction A. What does the practice of the Christian faith look like on a day-to-day basis? B. We recognize many of the standard expectations 1. Avoid sin (Galatians 5:19-21) 2. Read and study the Bible (John 8:32, 2 Timothy 2:15, etc.) 3. Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18) 4. Do good as opportunities arise (Galatians 6:10) C. These standard expectations are well and good, but what do we see from Scripture about day-to-day practice? D. An ancient understanding of at least some of the standard practices on a day-to-day basis involved the spiritual disciplines 1. 1 Corinthians 9:27, 2 Timothy 1:7: Paul disciplines his body; God has given us the spirit of sophronismos, discipline or self-control 2. Galatians 5:22-24, 1 Peter 4:7: Christians are expected to live lives marked by self-control and sober-mindedness 3. How we are to maintain discipline is a matter of liberty 4. Nevertheless there are glimpses in Scripture of some ancient practices known as the disciplines and that Christians used them to help them maintain discipline in important spiritual practices E. Let us consider the spiritual discipline of prayer 1. We recognize the importance of prayer from 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 2. At other times it is profitable to discuss prayer in general, prayers in specific contexts, spontaneous prayers, etc. 3. Let us today consider the spiritual discipline of prayer most often accomplished in some fixed hour or ordered format II. Prayer as Spiritual Discipline: Scripture A. In the New Testament Christians are expected to pray, and pray often and intensely 1. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18: pray without ceasing, giving thanks to God in Christ 2. Romans 12:12, Colossians 4:2: continue steadfastly in prayer 3. Ephesians 6:18: all prayer at all seasons 4. Philippians 4:6: in everything with thankfulness make requests known to God in prayer B. Much is left to liberty in terms of how we accomplish this, and for good reason! C. Nevertheless, in Scripture, we do find examples of prayer according to a fixed hour format D. Acts 3:1 1. Luke explains how Peter and John went to the Temple; they would ultimately heal a lame man and preach the Gospel to over 5,000 (Acts 3:1-4:22) 2. But why were Peter and John going to the Temple? It was 3:00pm, the time for evening prayer (Acts 3:1) 3. In Second Temple Judaism many Jews would come together at the synagogue or Temple for prayer in the morning (9am), afternoon (12pm), and evening (3pm) prayer (e.g. Daniel 6:10, 13) 4. Peter and John continue to pray at those hours even after Jesus' death and resurrection E. Acts 10:9 1. While staying in Joppa Peter goes on top of the roof for prayer at the sixth hour (12pm) 2. This example is important to show that Peter still adhered to the afternoon hour of prayer even while in the company of only some Christians lest one think that Peter and John only went up to the Temple to pray at the ninth hour because other Jews were there F. Thus we have apostolic, approved examples of maintaining a discipline of prayer, a regimen to make petition before God at specific times 1. The precise nature of the regimen is left as a liberty 2. Such a regimen does not replace spontaneous prayer, prayers in the assembly, or other opportunities for prayer 3. Nevertheless, we have been commanded to pray frequently and diligently, to give thanks in our prayers, and we have examples of the Apostles praying at specific hours of prayer G. All this evidence means we do well to consider developing some specific discipline in prayer! III. Prayer as Spiritual Discipline: Concerns A. There may be some concerns about maintaining a spiritual discipline of prayer at fixed hours of the day B. Concern #1: Denominations / Other Religions 1. It is true that some denominations, especially Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Anglicanism, maintain prayer offices and maintain prayer books for those offices 2. There is much that is said and done in such prayer offices that are not consistent with what God has revealed in Scripture, and such ought not be said or done 3. Nevertheless, these denominations maintain prayer offices on account of very ancient traditions going all the way back to the time of the Apostles and immediately afterward 4. Denominational abuse of a practice does not mean the practice is inherently wrong; over-reacting and entirely rejecting a practice which has some apostolic authority is no better than the denominational abuse! 5. Likewise, Islam is well known for its 5 daily times of prayer 6. Yet where did Muhammad get that idea? From the practices of Jews and Christians! 7. What does it say about the relative piety of Christians versus Muslims if the latter, through the discipline of five daily prayers, end up praying more than the former? C. Concern #2: Repetitiveness / Praying Prepared Material 1. Another concern involves the repetitiveness in the prayer and the frequent use in fixed hour prayer of material from other sources 2. After all, does not Matthew 6:7-8 warn us about vain repetitions? 3. There is much legitimacy to these concerns: if we are saying words we do not really mean, or just repeat things for the sake of repeating them, then we are not really speaking to God, as Jesus warns us in Matthew 6:7-8 4. Nevertheless, Jesus will go on to provide the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 which can be repeated meaningfully and with great value 5. The Apostles had no qualms praying the words of Psalm 2:1-2 in Acts 4:25-26! 6. The Psalms are full of petitions to God and they were written and given to the people of God for the very purpose of giving voice to their praise and pleas before God! 7. Throughout time, from Jewish apocryphal writings to devotional authors to this very day, people have sought to find valuable words and sentiments with which to petition God 8. Using such words, whether in fixed hour prayer or at other times, is not only not wrong but frequently of great benefit and comfort 9. As long as we mean what we are praying we should do all we can to find the best way to give voice to our petitions of thanksgiving, praise, and petitions before God! D. Concern #3: Purpose / "Binding" 1. Others may have concern about why we would participate in fixed hour prayer or fear that it is being bound upon them 2. Let it be clear: fixed hour prayer is not commanded; it is a matter of liberty, perhaps a helpful construct by which we can order our prayer lives before God 3. A person is not less of a Christian or in sin for not praying with such a discipline 4. Likewise, to participate in a fixed hour prayer discipline is not to be a source of pride or to be seen as especially holy (Matthew 6:5-6); it is a personal decision with apostolic origins so as to provide structure to one's prayer life E. Maintaining the spiritual discipline of prayer may not be required but it has great value! IV. Prayer as Spiritual Discipline A. How one decides to participate in prayer as a spiritual discipline is between oneself and God 1. There are some prayer books that may be useful to get one started; they feature portions of Psalms, other Scriptures, generally decent devotional writings for meditation or prayer, etc. 2. One must be careful when using such things to make sure all things said are in accordance with what God has revealed in Scripture; whatever is not thus consistent should be left unsaid 3. Yet such is not necessary: one could come up with one's own list of Psalms to read at specific times, other passages, or specific prayers to pray 4. Another way would be to have specific prayers at specific hours: a prayer of confession of sin, a prayer of praise, a prayer of thankfulness, a prayer of petitions, etc. 5. One cannot go wrong by respecting the types of things expected in such prayers in Scripture: Psalms (Acts 4:25-26), thanksgiving (1 Thessalonians 5:18), confession of sin (1 John 1:9), intercession for the world and for others (Ephesians 6:18, 1 Timothy 2:1-2), etc. B. Yet why specific hours or timeframes? 1. While praying at a specific hour or time is not mandated or required there is great value in the practice 2. For any discipline to be of effect or value it must be a habit, and habits do best when they are maintained in a consistent way (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27) 3. Prayer at fixed hours has one major benefit: it demands that we orient our day around God and not ourselves a. Psalm 14, 53: the main concern of the Psalter in these psalms is not atheists but people who live without reference to God b. Even for believers it can be easy to "forget" about God at various times in the day; we are easily consumed and subsumed by whatever task is in front of us c. Fixed hour prayer forces us to stop what we are doing and to re-direct our minds to God, what He has done for us, and for us to make requests to Him d. If we do so, we in part make it clear that God is Lord of our lives; we set aside certain times to pray to Him and declare that He is our priority, and do not presume to just talk to God whenever is convenient for us, as if we are in control and God just gets whatever we decide to give Him whenever we feel like it C. What should be these fixed hours? 1. Peter and John prayed at 3pm and Peter at 12pm (Acts 3:1, 10:9) 2. On such a 3 hour cycle the hours of prayer would be dawn (6am), morning (9am), noon, afternoon (3pm), evening (6pm), and night (9pm) 3. Those who have insomnia or work nights would have similar hours at 12am, 3am, 6am 4. Some hold to all of these when they are awake; some have three such periods; some do not have a specific hour but a range of time (6-9am for morning prayer; 11am-1pm for afternoon prayer, etc.) 5. The whole enterprise is a matter of liberty but can certainly be helpful to remind us who really is in control and to order our lives around God as opposed to expecting God to just wait to hear from us when it is convenient for us D. Specifically how we go about maintaining the discipline of prayer may be a matter of liberty, yet making sure that we honor God through how we attempt to develop a discipline of praying to Him is of the greatest importance! V. Conclusion A. We have considered the spiritual discipline of prayer B. While the structure of our prayer life is left as a matter of liberty, the need to pray and to feature thanksgiving, intercession for others, confession of sin, making requests before God, etc. in our prayers is commanded and mandated! C. In order to do so the Apostles and other early Christians maintained fixed hours of prayer above and beyond spontaneous prayers or assembly prayers or the like D. There is great value in developing the spiritual discipline of prayer, establishing some kind of prayer routine, orienting our lives around God as opposed to expecting God to just hear from us whenever it is convenient E. Let us maintain discipline in our prayer lives! F. Invitation / songbook Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). God has commanded us how to live righteously and avoid sin, but how do we accomplish this on a day-to-day basis? Throughout time many Christians have sought to develop spiritual discipline so as to effectively accomplish God's purposes. We do well to develop spiritual disciplines in our own lives according to God's will! 2: Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2). Prayer is an important aspect of the Christian life. Spontaneous prayers in various circumstances are well and good, yet it behooves Christians to establish some sort of rhythm, regimen, or fixed hour schedule of prayer so as to pray without ceasing and steadfastly. Let us make sure that we continually pray to God with thanksgiving in faith! 3: Now Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour (Acts 3:1). Praying at fixed hours has apostolic precedent: Peter and John go to pray the evening prayer at 3pm in Acts 3:1, and Peter prays the afternoon prayer at noon in Acts 10:9. Such fixed hour prayer is never bound but nevertheless is provided as an apostolic example and has great value. Let us be faithful to God in prayer! 4: And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, "O Lord, thou that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is..." (Acts 4:24). One great benefit of fixed hour prayer is how it reminds us that God is the Creator and in control, not ourselves. We stop what we do in order to praise God and make our requests to Him as opposed to just fitting prayer in whenever it is most convenient for us. In our prayer lives let us affirm and declare God as Sovereign to His glory!